


All the World's a Stage

by ANonsense



Category: Bad Education (UK TV)
Genre: Acting, Angsty Frank, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Frank is in earnest, Hurt/Comfort, Introspection, M/M, Poetry, The Play, unexpected love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-10
Updated: 2015-11-10
Packaged: 2018-07-27 14:02:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7621180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ANonsense/pseuds/ANonsense
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a well known and undisputed fact... Frank can't act.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All the World's a Stage

It is a fact:

Frank can’t act.

He’s bad generally:

Arson; stealing; shoving kids into lockers;

But his acting’s worse.

The curse of the macho man.

Rehearsal, and he’ll purposefully lose his script.

Last verse of a song and he’ll lip-sync;

Get ripped a new one by the drama teacher

For mouthing along to the words.

Acting is not Frank’s thing.

He can _sing_

(Not very well)

But he’ll sing as Frank.

He can _dance_

(Not very well)

But, when he tries to act,

They think the audition’s some kind of prank of his.

(He auditioned once,

Aged ten,

For one of Robin Hood’s merry men in a year six school play:

The role of Will Scarlett.

His resolute ‘never again’

Has stayed with him since.)

So he doesn’t act.

From the moment he kneels,

He doesn’t act.

In the moment he pauses,

It’s not an act.

As he holds in his lap

The boy who’s dying

He stops feeling shy.

He stops acting.

He starts _being_ the part

For Stephen.

And the part he’s being is himself.

The part of himself

He can’t be forever.

The part of Frank

He wants to give to Stephen

Frank the lost,

Frank the hopeless,

The never-good-at-anything-but-fighting Frank.

The unactor.

The cider-in-school, beer-behind-bike-sheds Frank.

The boy who has Stephen

In his lap

Dying,

Drinks in the sight of him.

Slides his helmet off with rough hands.

Dies with him.

The words of the greatest lovers on his lips.

A confession on his face.

Frank can’t act.

And, when he kisses Stephen,

He isn’t acting.

When he kisses Stephen,

It isn’t acting.

When he kisses Stephen,

They aren’t acting.

 

And there is a cough.

And the play finishes.

And they go home.

 

And

It is a fact.

Frank still can’t act.


End file.
